Junjou Egoist Short Story Collection
by SnowyOwl103
Summary: Little shots of Hiroki and Nowaki's life. Why is Hiro-san scared to adopt a baby? Will Nowaki persuade him?
1. Chapter 1

Adopting a Child

Act 1

"Hiro-san, I want to adopt a child."

Hiroki, who had been about to take a sip of his coffee, choked and spluttered. He slammed his cup down, making the table rattle. "WHAT?" Nowaki just stood in the doorway, a peaceful smile on his face. "A baby, Hiro-san. Can you just imagine it? Little fingers reaching for yours-." Before he could continue Hiroki had found his voice at last. "Nowaki, do you know how much money a child costs? How much of a commitment they are?" He turned pale as his thoughts raced.

"Clothing, school fees, not to mention we would need more room and it would stink." He had gotten up in his fervor, and was now standing before Nowaki, looking up into his handsome face.

Nowaki just grinned. "Hiro-san, did you just refer to a would be child as "it"?"

"Of course not," Hiroki huffed, scowling as Nowaki's smile spread.

"Yes you did," he said.

"Did not!"

"Did too."

"It was a grammar mistake I meant to say 'he or she'," Hiroki growled, ducking his head as he turned away from his younger lover, blushing.

Nowaki smiled. He knew that his Hiro-san would never admit to wanting a child, and that he was using their housing and finances to deflect what was really bothering him. Nowaki closed the space between them and hugged the professor from behind. "Hiro-san," he breathed into the smaller mans ear. Hiroki stopped fidgeting, entranced by his lover's warm breath on his neck. After a second, he relaxed into the giant's embrace.

"I know you want a child too, Hiro-san. Don't worry, you'll be a good father."

Hiroki snorted. "No child would want two men as its parents," he murmured, his face heated.

He hung his head, glad that he didn't have to look Nowaki in the eyes. He felt ashamed of his cowardice, especially compared to Nowaki's brimming self confidence. They had been together for 9 years, he should be able to have the same self-assurance as that cocky brat, dammit!

Nowaki sighed. He had long come to terms with the fact that he was gay, years ago, the moment he had first met his lover's intense auburn gaze. But Hiro-san was still uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the public. He did not want to ruin an innocent child life by condemning them to a life of teasing and bullying. It was adorable.

Hiroki narrowed his eyes, feeling a familiar aura eminating from his boyfriend. Was his giant idiot of a lover getting ideas again? His suspicions were confirmed when Nowaki snuggled into the curve of the professor's graceful neck, his soft black hair brushing against the man's ear. "Hiro-san, lets adopt a child. If we adopt a girl no one will mind that she has two fathers. A boy would get teased, so lets get a girl, Hiro-san."

"No," Hiroki barked resolutely. He was not letting a child into the house, he though angrily, crossing his arms. _No way, never, not happening_, he chanted in his head.

A week later he found himself sitting in the waiting room of the adoption center, his small hand engulfed in Nowaki's warm larger one, hiding his beet red face behind a brochure on foster care. _How the hell did this even happen? _he thought wildly.


	2. Chapter 2

Hiroki Kamijou was at loss for words. Here he was, sitting in the middle of a freakin' ADOPTION center, holding hands with a tall man 4 years his junior, hiding his red face behind a brochure. This was definitely all Nowaki's fault, it had been his idea to adopt a child, Hiroki thought in growing panic as he felt the people in the room stare at him. He peeked out from behind his brochure at Nowaki, who was watching him with an adoring smile. "It's almost our turn, Hiro-san," he breathed excitedly and squeezed Hiroki's hand, making his heart jump.

_Oh joy, its almost our turn_, he thought glumly. As if on cue the whitewashed door to their left opened, revealing a fresh young woman in jeans and a white t-shirt. "Kamijou-sama?" She twittered into the waiting room in a high voice. Hiroki blanched. "You made the reservation under MY name?" He hissed at Nowaki, his blood boiling.

His eyes narrowed and Nowaki realized he was in danger.

"Hiro-san, its our turn," he said quickly, pulling the brochure from his Hiro-sans grip and pulling the smaller man up before he could throw it at him. Hiroki found himself being towed into a small room with many windows. A gentle looking woman sat behind a desk, glasses perched on her nose. Tap tapping away at a computer. There were two chairs in front of the desk, soon occupied by Nowaki and Hiroki.

The lady introduced herself as Minami Oda, insisting that they called her Minami. "So you two want to adopt a child?" She asked, pushing her glasses up on her nose, a movement that greatly reminded Nowaki of Hiroki. He was still holding his fuming lover's hand, which he quickly squeezed. Hiroki opened his mouth but Nowaki was faster.

"Yes, we would like to adopt a baby girl between 6 to 12 months old, " he said calmly before Hiroki could tell them that he had accidentally set this appointment when in reality he had wanted to go to the dentist. The lady cleared her throat and reached under her desk for several papers. She sorted and stacked them into one sizeable pile and slid them across to Hiroki and Nowaki.

"Our adoption policy is that all couples need to verify that they have the proper facilities and finances in order to properly take care of a child. Please start by filling out these General Information forms and signing them. We also need an agent to thoroughly check your housing and your respective jobs. I am assuming you are both gay?" She looked at them expectantly.

At that moment, Hiroki stood up, his chair falling back with a bang. He felt like the room was constricting around his lungs, he could not draw in the deep breath he needed to calm his raging pulse. The nerve of this woman!

"I need to use the restroom," he growled, desperately keeping his composure as he strode out of the room, leaving a worried Nowaki behind. "I am sorry, Minami-san, please excuse us for a moment," the tall man threw over his shoulder as he quickly followed his lover. Minami looked confused but just shrugged, wondering why such a handsome and mild mannered man would chose to be with such a disgruntled ball of fire.

"Hiro-san, where are you?" Hiroki heard Nowakis faint call echo through the halls. He had found a small kitchen in one of the side rooms, the only place that didn't seem to be filled with people, and now stood against the wall, breathing in the air that flooded throught he open window. _Dammit_, he though angrily, _why did I let Nowaki talk me into this_.


	3. Chapter 3

Hiroki leaned against the wall of the Adoption Center's kitchen and took several deep calming breaths. He wondered why he was so upset. He had been with Nowaki for years and never felt ashamed of their relationship. He ran a nervous hand through his unruly brown hair, making it stick up in all directions. The image of Nowaki's disappointed and worried face danced around on the inside of his closed eyelids.

"Dammit", he growled. Guilt flooded through him as he realized he was in the process of ruining the only thing that his younger lover had ever truly asked of him. He felt horrible. Nowaki was an orphan, he had always wished for a family. _Why can't I do this for Nowaki, _he thought, frustrated.

When Nowaki had mentioned that he wanted to adopt a child, the familiar pang of fear had started in Hiroki's belly and worked its way into his brain, allowing him no joy at an idea that he himself had often dreamed of. He sighed dejectedly, cursing his pride. _I've always wanted a child I guess, _he mused, thinking of the daydreams he often fell into when he was grading the piles and piles of papers Professor Miyagi always left him when he went to go play around with his brat.

Holding on to his son's small hand and showing him the falling cherry blossoms. Teaching his son how to write a proper analysis of _Odysseus_ without retelling the entire story like his idiot students did ( it had been a long day). Standing, holding hands with Nowaki, in front of the stage as their child graduated from high school, feeling immense pride as they were given awards and nominations. He had never told Nowaki of his private thoughts on the matter, afraid that they would seem womanly and soft. _Daydreams are easy when life is much harder_, he thought, thinking of the faces people would make when Nowaki and Hiroki's child introduced them. He could almost hear the laughter. People would talk and gossip and make life horrible for their child. _It would never be able to develop normally_.

Guilt shot through him again as he thought of Nowaki's gentle voice. "You'll make a good father Hiro-san." Nowaki would make a better father. He was popular and gentle, drawing people all around him. Besides, how would they manage to take care of a child with Nowaki being so busy at the Hospital and Hiroki taking on extra classes as he rose higher in the ranks of the faculty and M University. _I don't want my child growing up without a proper family, _he thought, thinking of Akihiko's hollow eyes every time he spoke of his family.

"Hiro-san!" Nowaki's voice was close now, and more insistent. _Shit, I don't suppose there's a way to escape through the window? _Hiroki thought wildly, images running through his mind. He peeked out the window at the grounds below and grew dizzy as he realized they were in the 8th floor of a 24 story apartment building. _ Great…_He heard Nowaki's familiar footsteps approach the room he was in, soft and muffled, for despite his height the giant moved with the grace of a jungle cat. Often Hiroki caught himself admiring his lover's smooth gait when they walked hand in hand (not that he would ever admit it), enjoying the way the gentle rhythm of Nowaki's walk lulled him into a kind of peace he never experienced elsewhere.

_I want him to be happy_, Hiroki thought. At that moment, Nowaki stepped into the room. "Here you are Hiro-san!" he called out happily. "What's wrong, Hiro-san. Do you not want to adopt a child anymore?" He said gently, stepping towards Hiroki. Hiroki looked away. "No child would want two fathers. No school would want two men coming to student conferences and no kindergarten would want two men participating in the activities with the children." He grumbled miserably, trying to sound angry and failing, instead just sounding the way he felt. Sad and scared, yet hopeful and longing. Nowaki stepped forward and enfolded the small man into his long arms. "Hiro-san, just because a child has two men as it's adoptive parents doesn't mean it will be unhappy. There are so many different types of parents, believe me. And even though you have a temper I've never ever seen you throw anything at a child, and yes, that IS the only age group you haven't terrorized, so why not start with our own?" Nowaki whispered, the last sentence ending with a smile in his voice. "And how would you know what type of parents we would be?" Hiroki huffed into the giant's sweater, hiding his red face. "Hiro-san….."

Suddently, Hiroki was drawn tighter into the embrace, and he felt his lover tremble. _What…_ "Remember that time I came home from the hospital feeling sick?" Nowaki asked, his head now hidden just under Hiroki's right ear. "Sure, you spent the entire night in the bathroom," Hiroki remembered. He had been so worried he had stayed up all night, bringing tea and herbal infusions to try and get Nowaki to at least keep his vital organs in his body while the rest of its inhabitants made their merry way out.

"That was the first time I experienced child abuse," Nowaki said softly, and Hiroki stilled in shock. Before he could reply Nowaki continued. " It was a late case, just before the end of my shift. The little girl, her name was Mika, was brought into the ER. She was 6 years old, Hiroki. Her entire body bore scars and bruises and she was malnourished. She had multiple fractures to her ribs and arms, as if somebody had been kicking her." Nowaki drew a shuddering breath. "She went straight into surgery, and as the pediatrician on duty I was left to deal with her parents. They looked so normal Hiro-san. Like anyone we would see on the street, walking by on the way to the train or the park. "

"I tried to talk to the mother but was constantly interrupted by the father, who repeatedly insisted that 'the kid fell down the stairs". I explained to them that the injuries did not match their description and that I was going to contact social services as soon as the girl was pronounced awake after her surgery and could give me her account of what happened. " At this point Hiroki felt something warm against his neck. Nowaki was crying. He gently took a handful of the giant's hair, letting him know he was still there.

"Hiro-san, they had been abusing her for years. Social services had given them several probationary warnings and threatened to take Mika away before. When I contacted them, they promised to help Mika and get her to her grandma as soon as she could be released from the hospital. B-But-" Nowaki paused, having trouble with the words. " Somehow, the grandmother couldn't be contacted. Social Services couldn't prove that the girl had been abused because there had been no witnesses, s-so they let her-" He sobbed again. "Let h-her go back t-o her believe I had failed at what I was bound to do-protect the child."

Hiroki stayed silent and stroked his lover's hair as Nowaki continued to sob, finally letting out the worry and stress the case had been causing him for months. "Why didn't you tell me that night?" Hiroki asked softly. "Because I couldn't believe it was real, that I had really let that happen. And you were so gentle to me, so adorably sweet. I didn't want you to think less of me because I didn't do more for Mika. " Nowaki answered. He had stopped crying but was still sniffling occasionally.

Hiroki narrowed his eyes. "Idiot," he barked. "You did all you could. Don't blame yourself like that." His tone was rough but his arms gathered Nowaki closer. He realized now that Nowaki had wanted to adopt a child to be able to raise it in the way he wanted to and be able to give it everything that other children didn't have. _And was worried about people thinking less of us because we are together, _he though, angry at himself.

He gently slid out of Nowaki's embrace. "Come on, let's not keep her waiting." Nowaki's face turned from sadness to absolute joy. "Hiro-san, thank you!" He cried happily, giving the smaller man a long kiss that took Hiroki's breath away. He leaned against the wall, feeling like his brain had finally kicked out the section labeled "balance" and replaced it with one labeled "The Nowaki Effect.""Yeah Yeah let's just go, " he grumbled to cover up the effect Nowaki had on him. And Nowaki just smiled. They held hands all the way back to the office.


End file.
